Sorry I’ve been slacking on the DIY projects lately, but we’re getting ready for some renovations to our house!  And between preparing for that, work, and my shop, there’s been a lot going on at night.  But, here are two smaller projects that I recently made for myself (which is rare these days).

Customized Tote

What you’ll need:

• Tote
• Cricut Explore Air
• White HTV
• Cricut weeder tool
• Iron

It all started when I found this cute canvas-y material bag at Hobby Lobby one day.  It had a gold rope pattern on it that I liked, and it was big enough to hold lots of things (like pillows, wine glasses, and shells) so I decided to buy it and make a custom shop bag to tote my things around in.I already had a ‘Coastal Kelder’ design file in Design Space from a previous project, so I made it bigger enough for the bag, and cut the design on white HTV.  I decided to cut some oyster shells too, because why not?

Like all my other Cricut projects, start by weeding the excess HTV away with the weeder tool.Turn on your iron to the highest heat, and figure out where you want your design.  After playing around with it a lot, I opted for Coastal Kelder on one side, and the oyster shells on the other.

When the iron is hot, press it down on your design.  I hadn’t used HTV on this material before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  After some trial and error, I realized it adhered better when I used the tip of the iron and slowly went around the design, making sure every bit was pressed down and adhering to the bag well.
And here’s the finished product!  I’m excited for some upcoming events to use my new Coastal Kelder bag and carry my products.  And of course Cleo wanted to see what was in the bag..

Customized Shuckers

What you’ll need:

• Oyster knives
• Black vinyl
• Cricut Explore Air
• Cricut weeder tool
• Transfer tape
• Crictu scraper tool

This project came about right before our New Years Eve oyster roast.  I had ordered more wooden shuckers to have on hand and while I liked the wooden handles, I felt like they were a little plain.  I decided to cut our name in black vinyl and add it to the handles for a personal touch (and so we don’t lose them).

Cut the vinyl with your Cricut, weed out the excess and then apply the transfer paper on top.  Pull the backing away, and apply the letters to the shuckers.  Make sure the vinyl is on the wood well (especially on the curves) and slowly remove the transfer tape.

Done!

Both of these use different types of vinyl I’ve become familiar working with, and both add a lil personalization to basic items!  Not bad for a lil time & effort…

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